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Towable Feedbunks Follow In The Same Track
Raising stocker cattle on pastures and stalk fields means you're continually moving feed bunks, says Bob Lutz, Powersville, Mo.
The process used to take him hours, even days. But no more.
Five years ago, Lutz decided to find a way to put his feed bunks on wheels and hook them together so he could move
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Towable Feedbunks Follow In The Same Track LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 26-5-12 Raising stocker cattle on pastures and stalk fields means you're continually moving feed bunks, says Bob Lutz, Powersville, Mo.
The process used to take him hours, even days. But no more.
Five years ago, Lutz decided to find a way to put his feed bunks on wheels and hook them together so he could move the entire string at once with a tractor or pickup. The bunks he came up with are "steerable" so each successive bunk follows in the tracks of the one ahead of it, even when making sharp corners.
He's been using this system ever since on his own farm in northern Missouri. A couple of years ago, he began the patent application process. Now, patent in hand, he's manufacturing what he calls the Feed Train bunks.
He hooks as many as 10 bunks together with no problem. You can make a short turn off the road and through a gate. If the tow vehicle can go through, the bunk train will follow without hitting posts on either side.
The all-steel bunks are 12 ft. long, 26 in. wide, and 12 in. deep. A drain built into the bottom of each bunk lets water out.
"Each bunk has two wheels. They can be hooked together in any order, one behind the other," he says.
Feed Train bunks couple together using only two linch pins per bunk. One pin connects the steering system Lutz designed and the other connects the bunks. One person can easily roll individual bunks around to assemble them into a train. "They stay together in the pasture," Lutz says. "There's no reason to break them apart."
The bunks have standard 4-bolt, 14 in. implement wheels and tires.
A special hitch on front bunk hooks to tow vehicle.
Contact Lutz for a copy of a video showing the bunks in action. You can purchase them from him for now, but eventually he hopes to sell them through farm supply retailers. He's developing a website that should be up within the next two months. The address will be www.feedtrain.com.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Lutz, Rt. 2, Box 11, Powersville, Mo. 64672 (ph 660 592-2351 or 660 592-2352; fax 660 592-2354).
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